The Science of Life

Probability is the foundation of everything we do in Statistics.  There are two types of probability: discrete and continuous.  Discrete probability is when there are distinct probabilities for different values (represented by bars), while continuous probability is where the probabilities change smoothly with the value (represented by a smooth curve).  This is better described by images.  These are two types of probability models and are therefor treated different. Discrete Probabilities of Dice Rolls. Continuous Probability Distribution of Pounds of Waste Produced. We have what is called Probability Models.  Probability models have a sample space (denoted by an S).  Probabilities are assigned to sample points in sample space.  For the continuous Standard Normal Distribution, the x axis is the sample point and the y axis (denoted P(E)) is the probability axis.  In the graphs above, the values we want to get a probability for is on th...

I am currently working on a YouTube project called "The Science They Don't Want You to Know", where I will cover science that various organizations and individuals don't want to be known by the general population for one reason or another.  It will be set up in seasons, since there are so many related topics to consider. The first season will cover conspiracy theories which affect public health.  In it, I will run be dependent on two papers, one which revolves around the mathematics of known conspiracies, and the other which describes the psychology of conspiracy theorists.  The math paper , which is written by Professor David Grimes of the University of Oxford, looks at various conspiracies which have been leaked to the public.  Examples of this include the NSA spying on us , the old syphilis "experiments" , and Watergate.  What he did was to use these known cases of conspiracies to develop a model for figuring out what the probability would be fo...

Suddenly, there is silence. It's been quiet for a while now, but now that the rounds are complete, it is complete silence, here on the surface of Mars. Not that this is really Mars. In the deserts of Southern Utah, there is a crew at the Mars Desert Research Station, running simulations for a trip to Mars. There are strict protocols for such things. Ideas accumulated on the ground put into place by The Mars Society. So simple are these ideas that most people – and even higher percent of scientists – would not think of them. Like, for instance, keeping a comp notebook at each piece of equipment to track use and maintenance. Keeping a log on the computer for suggested SOP for the crew who takes over on the next cycle change. In the isolation of the desert, these people can teach us a few things about how to do what we do as Environmental Scientists. For one, it is alright to be a nerd and proud of it. In fact, it is the preferred state of mind for us....

In the United States, the main culture is that of willing and happy ignorance and intellectual laziness. In this culture, intellectual curiosity and contemplating knowledge is shunned as “nerdy”, a term used as a negative term to denote someone who is somehow lesser than themselves, because of that intrinsic curiosity and need to figure everything out. The modern American “major-cultures” think of themselves as superior to that of the “sub-culture” of “nerd”, the prior having the God Complex about being part of the crowd, the latter not really caring about how they are labeled by the rest of society, so long as they are left to their intellectual devices. In the intellectual development of any individual, I see four necessary legs; the household, the community, the educational system, and finally the individual. Any one of these four legs fail, the intellectual development of the individual fails. Here I will concentrate on the educational system. I am sad to say I am mor...

First, I would like to apologize for my longer than acceptable absence. Both from this blog as well as my YouTube channel. My academic world has been consuming all of my time. Life, getting in the way of so much, you know? Yeah, you know. Also, as a side note, I recently received a comment from an anonymous user which was very non-productive and non-constructive. This person apparently removed it in short order, but I still have an e-mail copy of it. This person appears to be a troll. I would like to request not only that you critique my blog, but also that all comments critiquing my blogs be constructive in nature. I am open to criticism, so long as I can actually take something productive out of it. Another note on the comment section; I would like to encourage conversations in the comments section. This will help in reduction in errors on everyone's part. This is always something I am looking to improve upon, including but not limited to in myself. This al...